Saint-Germain-des-Prés (church)
The oldest church in Paris, repainted in its medieval colours
- Area Saint-Germain
- Type Church
- Time needed 40m
Saint-Germain-des-Prés is the oldest church in Paris: the present building is largely 11th and 12th century, on the site of a 6th-century abbey founded by Childebert I. It was the church of a powerful Benedictine abbey whose grounds once covered much of the Left Bank west of the Latin Quarter. A long restoration finished in recent years has brought back the 19th-century painted decoration, so the interior is coloured rather than bare stone. Entry is free.
Open in the planner →Getting there
Metro 4 to Saint-Germain-des-Prés puts you at the door; from Châtelet that is one line and about seven minutes. Metro 10 to Mabillon is a four-minute walk. Buses 39, 63, 70, 86, 87 and 95 all pass along boulevard Saint-Germain. The entrance is under the west tower, on the boulevard.
What you see
The squat west tower is the oldest part standing and reads as a fortification from outside. Inside, the nave is low, round-arched Romanesque, and the restored paintwork by Hippolyte Flandrin and his workshop covers walls and vaults in deep blues, reds and gold with bands of ornament and figures of saints — startling if you expected grey. The capitals in the nave are copies; several of the carved originals are in the Musée de Cluny. The choir behind is early Gothic, with pointed arches and a ring of chapels, and the contrast where the two periods meet is the most interesting thing in the building. Look for the marble funerary monument to John Casimir, the Polish king who died as abbot here, and for the tomb of René Descartes in a side chapel. The small garden on the north side, square Laurent-Prache, holds fragments of the demolished abbey and a Picasso head.
What to pair it with
Saint-Sulpice is five minutes' walk south, the Musée d'Orsay about twelve minutes north-west, and the Institut de France and the Seine quais are ten minutes north.
When to go
Morning light through the choir windows is the best time for the restored colour. It is a busy parish with frequent services, so weekday middays are the most reliable for an unhurried look. The streets outside are at their worst for crowds on weekend afternoons. Concerts are held in the church through the year; look at the notices by the door.
What is hard about it
It is small, and anyone arriving expecting the scale of Notre-Dame will be through in fifteen minutes. The repainted interior divides opinion: some find it a faithful recovery, others think it looks newly decorated rather than ancient. Work on the fabric continues in phases, so expect some part of the building to be screened off or under scaffolding at any time. There is little seating for visitors, services close off the choir, and the surrounding cafés are among the most expensive in Paris.
Common questions
How long do you need at Saint-Germain-des-Prés?
Forty minutes covers the nave, the choir, the chapels and the garden outside. Twenty minutes is enough for a quick look.
Is it really the oldest church in Paris?
The oldest standing church, yes, with fabric from the 11th century and an abbey on the site from the 6th. Other sites are older archaeologically.
Is Descartes buried here?
His remains were moved here in the 19th century and a monument marks them in a side chapel, though the skull is held elsewhere.
Nearby
More of the same kind
- Notre-Dame de ParisThe Gothic cathedral on the Île de la Cité, reopened after the 2019 fire
- Sainte-ChapelleFifteen windows of thirteenth-century glass in a single upper room
- Sacré-Cœur, ParisThe white basilica on the butte, and the best free view in the city
- PanthéonNeoclassical mausoleum of the Republic's great, with Foucault's pendulum